Lift and tilt tables, for example as shown in FIG. 1 of the present application, are presently commonly used for lifting and tilting loose articles and materials to a more convenient easily accessible location. These prior art tables, as shown in FIG. 1, include a scissor lift mechanism generally indicated as 10 which includes criss-cross legs 12 and 14 pivotally and slidingly engaging upper horizontal platform 16 and lower horizontal platform 18. Scissor lift mechanism 10 causes upper horizontal platform 16 to be selectively lifted upwardly as needed. A tilt table 20 is pivotally connected with a hinge member 22 to upper horizontal platform 16. A hydraulic cylinder 24 is pivotally connected to upper horizontal platform 16 at one end and to table 20 at its other end. Loose articles or material components are placed within a bin 26 placed on tilt table 20 or are placed directly on the tilt table itself. By selectively actuating hydraulic cylinder 24, tilt table 20 is caused to pivot about the pivot axis of hinge member 22 and bin 26 along with articles therein are caused to be moved upwardly and pivoted as shown in FIG. 1. An apron or extension 28 is connected to tilt table 20 and extends generally upwardly therefrom to prevent bin 26 and/or articles on table 20 from sliding off therefrom. In this fashion, by controlling the height of upper horizontal platform 16 and the angle of tilt table 20 with respect to upper horizontal platform 16, the articles within bin 26 are placed in an optimum position, for example, for an operator to reach within bin 26 and grab or otherwise obtain an article or material component for use in a manufacturing process. Such a lift and tilt table, as can be appreciated, can also be used for placing articles and other items within a bin 26 after they have been exposed to the manufacturing process and in many other applications.
The prior art lift and tilt tables, however, have substantial shortcomings and drawbacks. One substantial shortcoming is that as tilt table 20 is pivoted about hinge member 22, the center of gravity of the table and articles within bin 26 is caused to shift towards hinge 22. Depending on the weight of the carried articles and the weight of the overall lift and tilt table and center of gravity thereof, as the angle between tilt table 20 and upper horizontal platform 16 increases, it is possible to cause the entire lift and tilt table along with bin 26 and articles therein to fall over. Most often, however, it is desirable to place tilt table 20 at a substantially large angle with respect to upper platform 16 so that articles within bin 26 may be placed at the most optimum location.
One solution for solving the above-discussed disadvantage with prior art tables is to increase the size of lower horizontal platform 18. This, however, is undesirable because the enlarged lower platform 18 then is in the way of the operator, forklifts, and other machinery that must pass or travel nearby the table.
Another drawback of the prior art lift and tilt tables is that, as tilt table 20 is caused to pivot about hinge 22, apron 28 and bin 26 are caused to extend to the right as shown in FIG. 1 and beyond the side end of upper platform 16. Again, the protruding apron 28 and bin 26 tend to get in the way of forklifts and other machinery. In addition, although the entire lift and tilt table could be set back to compensate for the ultimately extending apron 28 and bin 26, the operator does not easily know how far to set back since the total extension will depend on the angle between tilt table 20 and upper platform 16 along with the overall height of bin 26.
Accordingly, a need exists for a lift and tilt table capable of lifting and tilting a bin with articles therein in an optimum position for an operator reaching within the bin and which further remains stable during the tilting operation and which is not caused to extend beyond the upper platform when tilted.